I rushed on to the bus excited to see what would await me in St Patrick's High School in Keady.  Our class were going to take part in the Robotics Exhibition.

We rushed into the colossal school.  When we entered the main building I saw lots of fantastic stuff like a huge library and an elevator. We shuffled down the corridor anxious to see what we would have to do for the day.

Inside the room a man called James decided to put us into partners with children from the primary school in Middletown.  I was paired with a boy called Nathan.  We sat down and James explained that we had to control a little robot by typing information into a computer.  This was quite difficult as a lot of thinking was involved.

After we had entered all the sumobots information we downloaded this into the robot.  We started the robot by turning the switch to number two and away he went.......I couldn't believe we had made our robot move.

After working so hard all morning we were well ready for our lunch break.  We were amazed by how brilliant the cafeteria was and the choices you had for dinner.....It was like McDonald's!!  During lunch we saw former members of our school and I even saw one of my cousins!

We were looking forward to getting back to work and leading our robots through a tricky track.  Each group had a chance to figure out the angles of the turns and then we had a competition to see who could guide their robot through the track with the best accuracy.

I thought Nathan and I could have done better as our robot only moved 25cms and only made one turn but I enjoyed the experience.

The winners of the tournament were Ryan Mone and his partner. Their robot moved 100cm and even done a celebration dance at the end. 

I really enjoyed this exhibition and can't wait to go to Keady High School in two years time!

Danny McElvanna

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As we all hopped on to the bus our hearts were racing. Nervously the P6 and P7 class entered the gigantic school. When we got into the school Mr Hart escorted us in to a huge hall. There we met a man called James. He was talking about how to operate robots. In the middle of explaining to us, a group of 6^th years came in. After James had explained, Caoimhe, Ellie and I zoomed to the laptops. We typed in the message that James had told us to and we wrote for our own message “hello”.

                   After we had typed in all information we had to give our robots directions for the race. We gave it directions but it kept on going off the road!  Sarah Louise from St Patrick’s High School helped us with our robot. Finally we got it... Well at least I think we did!

             Now it was the moment of truth. Our robot was number 4. “Number 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4” called James. Gently we set our robot on the mat. Ellie switched it on, and off it went. It went perfect the first turn, and perfect on the second, but on the third, it started to go off track. Oh noooooo. But at least we got into the final. Sadly Ryan Mone’s robot won. Still we left with our heads up high.

By Shannon Morgan.

On Wednesday 7^th December, St Joseph’s Madden held their open night for the new school. Adults and children both attended this amazing event. Finally the 1.5 million pound school was open.

Excitedly I rushed into the school and could not wait to explore. I met up with my friends and then started our tour. My favourite things were the hall, the interactive whiteboards and the P1’s fish tank. When using the interactive whiteboard, love how it moves up and down plus its touch screen! The gigantic, Fermanagh coloured hall really stands out and the cooks will also enjoy their shiny new kitchen.

Unfortunately we had to go home, though Man UTD got beat 2-1 by Basel which ended a wonderful evening. HA HA Mr Hart!

By Daire Tohill (Primary 7)

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On 7^th December all in St Joseph’s Primary School prepared for the official opening of their brand new £1.5 million school. Eventually the evening came. Full

Of excitement people gathered to explore and view the tremendous sights. The interactive white boards were amazing .They move up and down with a vibration sound and are touch sensitive.

Extremely excited my friends and I began to explore the hall. “It is three times the size of our old hall” explained Mr Lougharan. Mrs Burke’s aquarium is humungous there are 8 tiny fish in it with 8 more coming next week. The toilets are gleaming and the kitchen is huge. We will all love life in our new school

By Shea Moore